Oregon’s selection highlighted a busy day for the conference, which also announced new practice policies limiting its teams to two full-contact workouts per week during the regular season and spring ball. The Pac-12 coaches helped to write the new practice rules, which are designed to keep players healthier and away from serious head injuries.

Oregon isn’t expected to slip without Kelly, whose departure for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles led to the promotion of Helfrich, Kelly’s offensive coordinator. Helfrich is keeping much of the Ducks’ hallmark offense and innovative mentality.

“If the guy that followed John Wooden quoted him every once in a while, would that have been a bad thing?” Helfrich said. “We’re going to talk the same, work the same, practice the same. We’re going to tweak the margins. … Those changes are going to happen, and we’ll adjust accordingly, but we have a bunch of great guys that believe in what we do, and that’s the most important part.”

Oregon won the Fiesta Bowl last season in the Ducks’ fourth consecutive appearance in a BCS bowl. The Ducks lost Kelly and eight starters from that team, but they’ve still got Marcus Mariota, the sophomore hailed by both Helfrich and Stanford coach David Shaw as the best quarterback in the nation.

Although the Pac-12 media poll has predicted the conference winner in 11 of the past 13 seasons, Shaw isn’t discounting his Cardinal’s chances to break past Oregon, particularly with their Nov. 7 showdown being played at Stanford Stadium. Stanford lost 10 starters from last season’s team, which went 12-2 and beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, but the Cardinal sees no reason for it football renaissance to end.

Meanwhile, Southern California athletic director Pat Haden said Lane Kiffin is not on the “hot seat” heading into his fourth as Trojans coach.

USC, picked third in the South, is coming off a 7-6 season that started with the Trojans ranked No. 1 in the nation and ended with five losses in six games.